


⚪ Meridia ⚪

by super_rainbow2021



Series: Camp NaNoWriMo 2020 [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Champion Harry, Gen, I love Skyrim so much, Present Tense, a new hand touches the beacon, bc i didn't, but this time he actually chooses it, dawnbreaker is my favorite weapon actually, did you know you have to be lvl 12, especially the daedric quests, harry is the Champion, i always get dawnbreaker, this is the best meme, yay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:29:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23588440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/super_rainbow2021/pseuds/super_rainbow2021
Summary: A new hand touches the Beacon.
Series: Camp NaNoWriMo 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670632
Comments: 6
Kudos: 41





	⚪ Meridia ⚪

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to a new series! this time i actually finished something within a week! you should all be very proud of me!!
> 
> edit: thank you so much for the kudos!

⚪

**_“A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON.”_ **

Harry Potter blinks as he takes the supposed Philosopher’s Stone out of his pocket. The stone looks to be polished marble and has dips all over it, much like a large golf ball. It’s much heavier than a golf ball, though.

Voldemort hisses wordlessly from the back of Quirrell’s head and steps back, trying to get as far away from the Beacon as possible. Harry, now free of the man’s clutches, also backs away from the Mirror.

**_“LISTEN. HEAR ME AND OBEY.”_ **

Harry shrugs and keeps hold of the Beacon, which starts to emit a bright light. Harry shields his eyes as it glows brighter and brighter until it fizzles back out. Meanwhile, he can hear shouts and screams from two different people across from him. When he looks back up, Harry sees that Voldemort/Quirrell is now a pile of ash on the floor. He blinks quickly at the sight.

**_“Now,”_** the voice says, quieter but no less imposing, **_“listen to me, Mortal. A foul darkness has seeped into my temple and you will destroy it. Return my Beacon to Mount Kilkreath and I will make you the instrument of my cleansing light.”_**

Harry cradles the Beacon in his hands. “Where is Mount Kilkreath?” he asks it.

The Beacon hums before the voice answers. **_“I sense that you are a wizard, Mortal. My Beacon will act as a Portkey for you to arrive at my temple safely and swiftly.”_**

Harry nods at it, then seems to realize something. “Who am I doing this for?” Hadn’t Ron’s mum warned them about things that could speak for themselves?

**_“I am Meridia, Daedric Prince of all Living things and enemy of the Undead and all who disrupt the flow of life.”_ **

A Daedric Prince? Hermione had found a book before that mentioned them. There are apparently seventeen known and worshipped Daedra, counterpart to the eight ( or nine, depending on who you talk to ) Aedra. Meridia despises all things that mock life and seek to evade its natural end. Harry supposes Voldemort, who somehow didn’t die nearly twelve years ago, fell into the category of Undead. It makes sense that Meridia would want to be rid of him.

Harry nods again, and makes an Oath to the Daedra. “I, Harry Potter, will bring your Beacon to Mount Kilkreath in the summer. I will not be allowed to leave Hogwarts until the leaving feast.”

**_“I thank you, Harry Potter, and I understand your obstacles. Vanquish the darkness and I will grant you a magnificent Boon.”_ **

Harry’s heard about Boons, in the book, and it isn’t something anyone should take lightly. A Boon from someone as powerful as a Daedric Prince is sure to be, well, magnificent. “I look forward to it.”

Movement in the corner of his eye catches his attention, and Harry watches a wisp of something rise from Quirrell’s ashes. The face looks like what was on the back of Quirrell’s head, but it floats away with a hiss before Harry can do anything about it.

**_“Hm,”_** Meridia hums, **_“it seems that there are things tying that Mortal to your world. It is as foul and Dark as Necromancy.”_ **Harry looks back down at the Beacon. **_“The Mortal you call Voldemort has tied himself to your plane with Horcruxes, which are containers for pieces of one’s soul. As a Daedric Prince, my Pantheon abhors the splitting of a soul. That which I have as my token will destroy them easily.”_**

Harry doesn’t exactly know how to feel about Voldemort not being completely gone because he split his soul. From what he’s gathered from Hermione, who has to have read through at least a third of the library at this point, excluding the Restricted Section, splitting one’s soul was a huge faux pas in the Wizarding world. It was the Darkest of magics and even notorious Dark wizards stayed far away from soul magic. The only relatively harmless bit of soul magic Hermione was able to find was an obscure ritual to find one’s soulmate, but it went out of practice in the 1700s.

Hearing voices and footsteps drawing swiftly near, Harry stores the Beacon back in his pocket and flings himself to the ground, managing to break a finger in the process. The pain doesn’t register as detrimental to him, so he doesn’t cry out. Through the fire comes Professors Snape and McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore. “Harry my boy, are you quite alright?” the headmaster asks while Snape freezes at the remains of Quirrell. McGonagall comes over to help Harry up.

“I-I think so.” Harry hisses for effect as he jostles his broken finger. His Head of House looks down at them and tuts.

“Albus, let me take Mr. Potter to the Infirmary to join Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. They have both sustained minor injuries as well.”

Dumbledore’s eyes have no twinkle in them as he looks at Harry, but he doesn’t push for answers. “Of course, Minerva. Please escort Harry to Poppy and his friends.”

McGonagall ushers Harry from the strange room while Dumbledore steps closer to Snape, and they seem to converse lowly. “Come along, Mr. Potter. We shall have you back in tiptop shape soon enough.”

⚪

When Harry steps on the train a few days later, he finds a compartment with Ron and Hermione. Hermione had, upon his entering the Infirmary, sobbed into one shoulder while punching the other, both relieved he was alright and furious at his actions. Ron was a little worse for wear from the game of chess, and still houses a single bruise on his shin, but he was smiling the whole time. Dumbledore came up and tried to talk to Harry about what happened and where the Stone was, but Harry gave the honest answer that he didn’t know of any such Philosopher’s Stone or why Voldemort wanted it. He didn’t deny Voldemort’s presence, but he could not explain why he and Quirrell had burned to ash in the strange room. The headmaster eventually left him alone with a smile that Harry just knew was insincere.

Presently, the trio talks about their plans for the summer. Harry had sent the Dursleys a letter via Hedwig that he would not be returning to Privet Drive, and they had not deigned to give him a response. That was perfectly fine with Harry. He figured he’d just spend the summer in Meridia’s temple, if They allowed it of course. So Harry listens to Ron talk about how hectic the Burrow is going to be with the four of them ( Ron, Percy, and the twins ) back for a few months, and he listens to Hermione gush about a historical trip to Tintagel and how it was believed to be the sight of Arthur’s castle way back when, and he thinks about his own plans. Does he tell his friends, his confidants? Can he trust them enough not to worry? Well, they _did_ defeat a troll together and make it through several dangerous obstacles, so probably.

“Erm,” he says when Hermione turns to him with an expectant look, “I’m going to be unavailable this summer.”

“How come, mate?” Ron asks with a tilted head.

Harry bites his lip. “I’ve been asked to do something by someone very important. I’ll be given a Boon once I’m finished.”

“A Boon?!” Hermione exclaims. “Just who offered you this Boon, Harry?”

Said boy blinks a few times as he decides to trust them. “The Daedric Prince Meridia. I’m to cleanse Their temple for Them and replace Their Beacon.” He pulls the white crystal from his robe now, and the two wixen gaze upon it.

“Harry,” Hermione breathes.

“Mate, that’s some dangerous stuff. My mum says the Princes are cunning and Dark, and that we can’t trust anything they say.”

Harry shrugs. It’ll be better than staying with the Dursleys. Hermione shakes her head. “They’re not actually Dark, Ron. They exist on a plane different from ours and collect souls for Their Domains. Meridia is actually one of the least conniving Princes of the Daedric Pantheon. They favor the living and despise the Undead.”

Harry nods. “Exactly. I remembered everything you told us and accepted the quest. Besides, Their Boon will help me defeat Voldemort.” He ignores the flinches from his best friends to stroke his hands over the Beacon.

“If you’re sure, Harry,” Ron says weakly. Harry spares the redhead a smile for his efforts.

“Tell us all about it in September, okay?” Hermione asks.

Harry smiles at her as well. “Of course, ‘Mione. You’re my best friends.”

⚪

Once he is alone in the compartment, and after most of the students have left the train, Harry takes the Beacon back out. He is about to inform Meridia that he is ready when he is suddenly swooped away from the compartment, the train, King’s Cross, entirely. He stumbles as he lands on an ancient-looking stone temple and regards his surroundings. The temple sits on a cliff that overlooks the sea on one side and the forest border on the other. From the bottom of the cliff upwards, the path is dotted with stone arches and patches of flowers—blue, purple, and red. If he stretches far enough, he can see an ocean further beyond the cliffside.

Looking back at the temple, he notices he’s on a flat area, large enough for a ritual or summoning. At the very edge, with its back to the ocean, is a large intricate statue. On the ground level are two robed figures joining hands, the space between them big enough for the Beacon to go, and behind them is a huge statue of a winged person with a hooded robe. _This must be Meridia’s statue,_ Harry deducts. The Beacon seems to buzz in his hands so he steps forward, unafraid but still cautious, and places the Beacon in the hole. Immediately it begins to roll and shine until Harry cannot look at it any longer. A beam of light shoots into the sky above him and he can _feel_ the presence of the Daedric Prince, even more potent than before.

**_“Look at my temple, lying in ruins.”_** Harry personally thinks it’s not too shabby, but he’s biased from living in a cupboard his whole life. **_“So much for the constancy of Mortals, their crafts and their hearts. If they love me not, how can my love reach them?”_** This solidifies Harry’s belief that Meridia isn’t an evil entity. How can someone who wishes to spread love be evil? **_“Listen, Mortal Harry Potter. The token of my truth lies buried in the ruins of my once great temple, now tainted by a profane Darkness skittering within. The Necromancer Malkoran defiles my shrine with vile corruptions, trapping lost souls left in the wake of your wars to do his bidding. Worse yet, he uses the power stored within my own token to fuel his foul deeds. I have brought you here, Mortal Harry Potter, to be my Champion. You will enter my temple, retrieve my artifact, and destroy the defiler. To do so, you will need to guide my Light through the temple.”_**

Harry breathes out. He will need to find a way to destroy Malkoran and the souls he’s trapped somehow. He has a feeling his magic will not be enough to do so alone, being eleven and not having had any proper combat training. “Can you tell me more about this artifact?” he asks. The book Hermione found didn’t speak of any tokens of the Princes.

**_“Mortals call it Dawnbreaker, for it was forged in a holy Light that breaks upon my foes, burning away corruption and false life. After you destroy Malkoran, you will retrieve this mighty blade.”_ **

Well, that would have been great to have _beforehand,_ so he could use it to destroy Malkoran, but Harry supposes that he can’t very well be deserving of the token before he’s completed his quest. Harry nods. “What can I use to destroy Malkoran and his corruptions?”

The Beacon seems to hum. **_“You are very young, though you have a strong magic around you. My cleansing Light will be enough to burn the shades of the defiled dead and Malkoran once you guide it through my temple. Worry not, Mortal. You will not be harmed in your endeavors.”_**

Harry nods to the statue. “It will be done.”

**_“Go now and guide my Light into my temple. The doors have been forced shut, but my Light will open them as it is my temple that he pretends to control.”_ **

The Beacon shines once more before settling at the feet of the robed people, and Harry hears a loud _click_ of a door being unlocked. He climbs down the great stone steps and finds a large ornate door, the top of which has a ball of light making it glow. That must be Meridia’s Light that Harry needs to … guide through the temple? He isn’t quite sure how he’s going to do that, but he will do his best.

Inside the temple, Harry can tell that it used to be grand and splendorous. Now, it is a ruin with so much dust and dirt and grime that Harry wonders why Malkoran doesn’t have anyone to clean the place up if he’s been living in and taking advantage of Meridia’s hospitality ( that is his first thought, but it is quickly followed by the question of how _long_ Malkoran has been defiling the temple for it to have turned to such ruin ). There are gold coins scattered throughout the filth that, while Harry himself doesn’t need it, he thinks would be a fitting gift to bring back to Ron and Hermione. He doesn’t dare take any of it before his quest is completed, however.

In the first large room, Harry comes across a raised platform with a darkened crystal ball sitting on a pedestal. Harry nears it and reaches out to touch said pedestal, and it rises with a shudder from the platform. It starts to glow even before it is fully raised, the Light from the door coming in and connecting to this crystal. The shadows that lingered at the edges of the room burn away with tiny shrieks, and the whole room starts to feel a little brighter, a little cleaner.

**_“Well done, Mortal. Just like that. By the end, I will restore my temple to its former glory with your help.”_ **

Harry smiles at the outcome. He can’t wait to see how the temple looks when the Darkness and filth is completely removed.

⚪

The temple is wonderful.

As Harry moves through the rooms, the easier it is to see these corrupted shades of people who died in the war with Voldemort, perhaps even before that. They entrap darkness and emit a foul magic that Harry has become more aware of as he delves deeper and deeper into the temple, and with each crystal he raises that darkness is pushed further and further back. With the darkness slowly dissipating, Harry can see how the temple used to look like: the stone walls repair themselves from the debris in the floor and start to shine like they were polished; the floors clean themselves until they sparkle like the Light Harry is bringing in; the pedestals in which the crystals are hidden gleam marble to compliment the rooms; and, most importantly to Harry, the _magic_ of the temple starts to come back. It is _warm,_ like Hogwarts is, like Hermione’s hugs, like his Weasley sweater, and Harry _loves it._

He swore to destroy Malkoran and vanquish the foul darkness, and he _will._

Eventually, Harry goes through so many rooms that he loses count and he can only admire the splendor that trails behind his wake. He does notice, however, when he reaches a door so ornate that it must be the innermost sanctum of the temple. Indeed, he feels Meridia’s presence thicken.

**_“Malkoran has taken up in my chambers, fouling it with his Necromancy. You are almost finished, Mortal Harry Potter.”_ **

Harry eases the door open slowly, hoping not to catch Malkoran’s attention. Inside he can see that the sanctum has not been changed from the grimy stone the temple was when he first entered, but it is no less magnificent. A robed figure sits upon a grand throne surrounded by several corrupted souls, and Harry knows at once that it is the Necromancer Malkoran. Meridia’s Light sits in the archway, waiting to connect to the twin sconces Harry can see flanking the throne. The figure sitting upon it seems to be hanging his head and paying no attention to anything but the floor, so Harry creaks the door open a bit further.

The floors start to lighten and the shades back away from the Light. Even though he can’t use magic outside of school, Harry has his wand gripped in his right hand for just in case. A dip in the center of the room catches his attention: it looks like a permanent circle engraved in the floor for rituals and such, and Harry realizes that is where Malkoran is staring, waiting for something or other.

Not wanting to wait and find out, Harry shoves the door open completely and tucks himself behind the wall. The screams of the corrupted souls are piercing, but not as much as the anguished, gut-wrenching cry that comes from the throne. Peeking out just a bit, Harry sees Malkoran standing in front of the grand chair, gripping his head and writhing and twisting in agony. The sconces on each side of him glow ethereally and bright, as if trying to burn the foul Darkness from him. The Light suddenly intensifies and Harry knows he must look away, but he is relieved to know that Meridia will have Their temple back.

When the screams die and not even ash is left on the floor, Harry turns back around and steps out from behind the doorway. The chamber is just as grand as he had hoped, with its white floors marbled with gray, the walls shaded slightly to compliment, the sconces burning not just at the throne but all around the room to amplify the mystical presence Meridia exudes, and then what he had thought was the ritual circle opens to reveal a marble pedestal with an ornate sword sitting upon it.

Harry approaches slowly while the Daedric Prince buzzes excitedly around the chamber. **_“Yes,”_** They intone, **_“the Defiler has been banished! I thank you, my Champion, for fulfilling the task assigned to you. I have promised you a Boon, and you shall have it. The sword in front of you is Dawnbreaker, a mighty weapon to repel the Darkness and cleanse all that is foul. Remove it from its pedestal and claim your reward.”_**

Harry steps into the raised dais and approaches the weapon. He cannot find a use for it at the moment, but he isn’t stupid enough to refuse a Boon from someone as great and powerful as a Daedric Prince. That and the fact that he can use it to ensure Voldemort is actually defeated this time around.

The blade is pale but not made of marble, and red glows softly throughout it. The grip has runes woven into the fabric that match the ones running along the blade, and in the middle of it is a piece of Meridia’s Light. It glows bright and hot, but not painful. An image of Meridia’s statue is reflected in the top of the hilt, wings and all. Harry takes it from the pedestal.

“ ** _Now you may return to your friends and tell them of your conquest. If you desire it, however, you may rest here as long as you need. The doors of my temple will always be open to you.”_**

That makes Harry pause. He tilts his head, considering. “The … people … that have taken me in after my parents’ deaths aren’t very pleasant. It would be … dangerous for me to go back there. Could I stay here over the rest of the summer, and return when I am not in school?”

The Daedra pauses. **_“I suppose that is a request I can grant, though it is an odd one. But I care not for Mortals and their affairs. Stay here whenever you need to, Champion. My faithful will return to restore my temple back to its full former glory in time. They will know of your deeds and the respect it demands. Wield Dawnbreaker at all times when you are within the walls of my temple, and none shall question you. My thanks once again, Champion, for purging Malkoran from my halls.”_** And then Meridia’s presence fades back into the background.

Harry smiles at the new title he has been given. The Princes like to reward those who aid them with Boons and trinkets and the title of Champion, the one They favor most above all other Mortals. He likes this title much better than his other ones, though. And he can’t wait to tell Ron and Hermione all about it, though he should probably leave out the finer details about the ‘purging’ that happened. Hermione might be understanding of it, having read up on the Princes and Their Pantheon, but not Ron.

He shakes his head and looks around the mostly-restored temple. This summer is going to be so much more _interesting_ than all the others. And there’re no Dursleys or Dumbledores to ruin his fun.

⚪

**Author's Note:**

> i may or may not write a second chapter about destroying the horcruxes, so stay tuned


End file.
